This is the Formula 1 racer that Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg will compete in this season’s world championship.
Renault hopes that this new RS19 will close the performance gap to the top three teams – Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull – in 2019.
With new driver Daniel Ricciardo joining the squad, Renault has faith that the ongoing improvements to its infrastructure and staffing levels will pay dividends in allowing it to keep up the progress it has made since it returned to Formula 1.
“We feel ready, we feel it is the right time to show you all what has been going on in the background of the last three years and are extremely proud of,” said team boss Cyril Abiteboul.
“When you walk around Enstone you feel the passion and dedicated to racing.
“The first phase of the plan was regeneration as you have seen. You will see pretty much every single area of the factory has been improved if not completely transformed, from wind tunnel instrumentation, manufacturing, milling machines, clean room, race bays, every single area improved in order to compete on the same level as the best.
“In Viry it has been a bit more tactical, some recruitment here or there, some equipment we will be commissioning in a few weeks, a brand new state-of-the-art dyno fully compatible with the 2021 regulations, plus a new building venture that should come out of the ground in 2020.
“Hopefully by 2020 we should get there with brand new engine workshop. We’ve invested a lot in Enstone and we ill be investing in Viry.”
The Enstone-based outfit finished fourth in the constructors’ championship last year, but is under no illusions about the performance gap that still remains to Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull ahead of it.
Renault has been aggressive with the development push for the black and yellow RS19, leaving the sign off of parts as late as possible in a bid to maximise development time.
While that means it is having to work flat out to ensure the car is ready for testing next week, it is hopeful that there will be performance benefits.
The car also features what Renault believes is a much-improved Formula 1 engine, with a new design building on the promise of last year’s C-spec power unit that Red Bull used at the end of the 2018 season.
Best of luck in this upcoming season and I am excited by the partnership of the honey badger and the Hulk. Hopefully Renault can challenge with consistent points finishes. Want to see Ricciardo’s shoey podium again!
Social media:
https://twitter.com/RenaultF1Team/status/1095284512626524160
https://twitter.com/RenaultF1Team/status/1095289086942822400
https://twitter.com/RenaultF1Team/status/1095297118003183616
https://twitter.com/RenaultF1Team/status/1095289242421477377
https://twitter.com/danielricciardo/status/1095348863005794306
https://twitter.com/HulkHulkenberg/status/1095315036568989696
Official site:
https://www.renaultsport.com/
https://www.renaultsport.com/-formula-1-car-.html
News stories:
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.renault-reveal-ricciardo-and-hulkenbergs-new-r-s-19-livery.27heWwWRwbgFnN9EMoi2r5.html
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.renault-r-s-19-all-the-angles-of-the-2019-f1-car.6o07S5SmB094D2VAd8sKta.html
https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/11597680/formula-1-2019-renault-target-top-three-with-new-car
https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/11635506/f1-in-2019-what-we-learnt-at-renaults-launch
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/47213490
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/47210981
Australian’s Daniel Ricciardo has made the move to Renault for 2019 after several seasons with Red Bull. The honey badger admits a difficult 2018 will make me better for Renault this season. Formula1.com provides the story.
If Daniel Ricciardo had any doubts about his decision to join Renault for 2019, they were cushioned by the disastrous tail end to his final season with Red Bull, which saw him label his car ‘cursed’ after enduring a series of mechanical failures. But ahead of his first year with his new squad, the Australian believes that those tribulations of 2018 have made him a more mature driver going into 2019.
Having looked nailed-on to remain at Red Bull as the 2018 summer break approached, Ricciardo stunned the F1 world by announcing that he was moving to midfield team Renault instead, meaning he’d break away from the Red Bull company who’d backed him since 2008. But with the decision made – and with Ricciardo’s new R.S.19 having now been unveiled – Ricciardo revealed that he was looking forward to immersing himself in the world of his new Anglo-French team.
“It’s always exciting to get behind the wheel of a new race car and begin a new season,” he said. “2019 will feel different because I’m jumping into a totally new car and a new team. There will be a lot to learn; understanding a new steering wheel, sitting in a new seat with new mechanics strapping me in and a new engineer talking to me, but that whole process is an exciting prospect.”
Reflecting on a mixed 2018, which saw him touted as a championship contender after two wins early in the season, only for a series of mechanical issues to pull him down to sixth in the standings by the year end, Ricciardo admitted that he’d been left ‘craving a change’, but added that the experience had helped him develop as a driver.
“Last year we had some highs and some happy moments,” he said. “There were also some points of frustration. I was craving a change and everything I learnt in 2018 will make me a better version of myself in 2019. The difference will be a more mature person. I have more clarity of where I’m going and I aim for that to be shown with good results on track.
“I feel a lot of positive pressure and expectation to do good things, but that’s something I’m looking forward to taking on.”
Ricciardo’s previously made no secret of the fact that Lewis Hamilton’s move to Mercedes – which to date has netted four drivers’ titles – inspired his own switch to Renault. Hamilton won one race in his first season with the Silver Arrows en route to fourth in the drivers’ standings – did Ricciardo reckon he could match that in his first season with Renault?
“Obviously, I’d love for the R.S.19 to be the fastest car on the grid, but for now, I want to see progress on the engine from last season and ensure the team remain motivated,” he said.
“People are looking forward to having me on board and I think Nico and myself will be a really good pairing to push the team onto the next step. I’m optimistic as the team will keep growing even more after impressive progress since 2016. I want to be part of this progression to score podiums in yellow.”